Marlies Hot & Cold: March 12th-18th

Ben Scrivens made 31 saves to pick up his third shutout of the season as the Toronto Marlies blanked the Grand Rapids Griffins 2-0 on Friday-Image Courtesy of Mike Ivall

TORONTO– The Toronto Marlies spent the beginning of the week practicing as their playing schedule was packed into the weekend only.

They played three games in three days, for the fourth time this season, and were able to come away with two victories.

The Marlies downed the host Grand Rapids Griffins 2-0 on Friday as Ben Scrivens turned away all 31 shots he faced for his third shutout of the season.

In their first and only meeting of the season at the Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto edged the Milwaukee Admirals 3-2 on Saturday after Nazem Kadri scored late in the third period.

The Marlies’ four-game winning streak was halted on Sunday as the Chicago Wolves scored three early goals and held on for a 3-2 victory.

Toronto is now 36-22-7 and sit first in the North Division, holding an eight-point lead over the Rochester Americans and Lake Erie Monsters, who are tied in points for second. Toronto’s total of 79 points has them second in the Western Conference, four points ahead of the Wolves.

The Marlies next game will be this Wednesday when they host the Lake Erie Monsters for an 11am school-day game.

Here are the Toronto Marlies Hot & Cold performers for the week of March 12-18th.

Who’s Hot

Mike Zigomanis

Season Stats: 62 GP 18 G 41 A 59 PTS

Zigomanis registered a point in every game this week and had six assists in total. He set up all three goals against the Admirals and has a five-game point streak going. His 0.95 point-per-game average is the best of his career this late into an AHL season.

Nazem Kadri

Season Stats: 41 GP 13 G 19 A 32 PTS

Kadri finally got his offence going this week with a two-goal performance against the Admirals. It was his first multi-goal game since November 29th. He also picked up an assist against the Wolves which gave him points in back-to-back games for the first time since being sent down by the Leafs in late January.

Philippe Dupuis

Season Stats: 31 GP 10 G 15 A 25 PTS

Dupuis scored the winning goal against the Griffins and had two goals and three points total this week. He has been a positive addition to the veteran side of this squad and seems to have found chemistry with Nicolas Deschamps.

Who’s Cold

Joe Colborne

Season Stats: 54 GP 16 G 21 A 37 PTS

Colborne failed to pick up any points this week and now has just two assists in his last 13 games. He also hasn’t scored in 14 games and has just six goals in his last 43 games, which is well below the expectation. He has put some focus on better defensive play but that doesn’t excuse his lack of offensive production.

Korbinian Holzer

Season Stats: 56 GP 1 G 16 A 17 PTS

Holzer continues to play the most minutes opf any D man but it looked to have caught up to him in the third of three games against the Wolves when he was on the ice for both of Chicago’s even-strength goals. Not expected to score goals so offence isn’t an issue but, with only one goal this season coming back on November 19th, hopefully a little bit of luck will help him total at least the three goals he had last season.

Kenny Ryan

Season Stats: 15 GP 1 G 0 A 1 PTS

Ryan was re-called last week from the ECHL when Nicolas Deschamps went down with an unjury. He suited up against the Griffins but was a healthy scratch the rest of the weekend as Descahmps returned to action. Expect him to be returned to the Reading Royals anyday.

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